The idea of mining nearby asteroids for resources we could use on Earth is fast becoming a possibility—and the asteroid set to buzz Earth on on February 15th could be worth up to $195 billion. If we could catch it.

This Tuesday, a group of billionaires and former NASA scientists will announce Planetary Resources…
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According to scientists at Deep Space Industries—one of the companies intent on mining asteroids—the passing rock, 2012 DA14, contains enough metals and propellants to make it worth a cool $195 billion. Micahel Cooney writes:

[A]ccording to DSI experts, if 2012 DA14 contains 5 percent recoverable water, that alone — in space as rocket fuel — might be worth as much as $65 billion. If 10 percent of its mass It could mass which could range from as little as 16,000 tons or as much as one million tons — is easily recovered iron, nickel and other metals, that could be worth — in space as building material — an additional $130 billion.